Dr. Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, made his second appearance at the Economic Club on Monday, December 12. This time, news coverage headlines of his remarks focused on his comments during a question and answer session with reporters after his remarks to Club members. In response to a reporter’s question, Dr. Schmidt addressed the issue of proposed legislation crafted to curb online piracy.
Dr. Schmidt said the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, amounts to “censorship” of the Internet. The proposed bill authorizes the Justice Department to seek court orders forcing Internet-service providers, search engines, payment services and advertising networks to remove links to web sites connected to counterfeit goods.
“By criminalizing links, what these bills do is they force you to take content off the Internet. By doing so it’s a form of censorship,” Dr. Schmidt said.
To view additional highlights and excerpts from the event, please click here.
